STORIES · 20.05.25
Craft | Garden | Sustainability | Well-Being
I have always loved visiting the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Every year I find it to be a great source of inspiration for my own garden and the gardens at Daylesford farm – as well as a wonderful opportunity to meet and share ideas with lots of fellow growers and horticulturalists.
I am therefore thrilled that after months of preparation, we are celebrating 20 years of Bamford’s signature geranium fragrance – and our new Glasshouse Collection – with a stand at the 2025 Chelsea Flower Show. Named ‘The Potting Shed’, I love that the design takes inspiration from my glasshouse at home and is a beautiful, sustainable showcase of the nature-based philosophy that runs through all of my businesses.
The main structure is made using wood from oak trees that were damaged during a storm at our estate in Wootton ten years ago. Hand-cut by a local carpenter and air-dried to minimise energy use, it is amazing to now see this natural material transformed into a sturdy framework – as well as a beautiful shingle wall inspired by the artist Wycliffe Stutchbury whose work I have admired for many years. Similarly, the stools inside The Potting Shed have been handmade using wood from one of our fallen sycamore trees and the traditional bee skeps were handwoven by artisan Tina Cunningham.
The floors and pathways are made from natural stones, including Cotswold pebbles, Dorset fines and Derbyshire limestone. You will also notice a trademark Bamford heart in the centre of the floor – a poignant symbol throughout my life that has been made by artisans using holly wood.
the design takes inspiration from my glasshouse at home and is a beautiful, sustainable showcase of the nature-based philosophy that runs through all my businesses
To celebrate 20 years of Bamford’s founding fragrance, the shed is filled with scented geraniums and pelargoniums from my personal collection – all housed in reclaimed terracotta pots. I wanted the space to capture all the charm of an English country garden, so there are lots of other plants too, including foxgloves, catmint, echinacea, yarrow and large medlar trees. As well as being beautiful, these species have been chosen for the benefits they offer to wildlife – namely the rich source of pollen they provide for bees and other pollinators. Conserving nature’s precious resources is incredibly important to me, so the plants will be nourished with rainwater collected from the roof of the stand that is being stored in old whiskey barrels.
We received the highest ‘outstanding’ award from the RHS assessors, who described our stand as an ‘asset to the show’, applauding its ‘originality’, ‘impressive planting scheme’ and ‘outstanding visual theatre’. My heartfelt thanks go to everyone involved in bringing our vision to life. I couldn’t be prouder of what the entire team has achieved.
I hope that many of you can step inside The Potting Shed if you are lucky enough to be visiting Chelsea this year. If not, you will be able to see it at our Cotswolds farm where we plan to repurpose the structure after the show finishes. For now, enjoy a glimpse of the details on my Instagram by tapping here.
